Comfort Oludipe –“Mama Emmanuel”, the mother of Emmanuel Okutuga, slain in 2011 by Montgomery County police — will hold a press conference in Germantown next Tuesday, followed by a community conversation with Chief Thomas Manger of the MCPD and other police officials.

Ms. Oludipe shared her story at a town hall meeting in Takoma Park last February. Her son was slain in downtown Silver Spring with a closed circuit TV capturing footage of the incident — only for that footage to be mysteriously lost when her attorney came looking for it. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo (HandsUpCoalition DC) has an extensive account of the case at Black Agenda Report.

At February’s town hall, Ms Oludipe said “I never thought it would happen to me… I raised our children that police officers are our friends. […] I strongly believe that the only thing that was wrong about that boy that day was the color of his skin. […] Don’t get me wrong – there are good cops and there are bad cops. […] the bad elements out there are giving you good cops a bad name.”

Writing to me today, she added,

“My main objective is to get justice for my son, not interested in Revenge but Justice, the truth needs to be told and justice must prevail. God help me also wants to make sure no mother will have to bury their child just because they have black or brown skin. Please do all that you can to help me achieve these goals.”